Communicating with potential guests - new host

[Paul311]

Hi all -

I just listed our 2nd floor private apartment on airbnb - and within the past few days received 3 separate messages from potential guests - asking me to call them - all of whom were looking to stay 4-6 weeks.  Of course, their numbers were blocked out.

I wrote back asking them to contact me with any questions they had and I'd be happy to answer them promptly.  None of the 3 ever properly responded.

The first one, who wrote to me on Wednesday night, said she wanted to know if she could come by on Thur or Fri to see the apt.  I said yes of course, to get back in touch and we'd set a time, etc.  Of course I didn't hear back until Friday saying she was sorry for delay and would still like to come - when I said let's set a time - never heard back.  Of course I realized, there was probably no way to work this out as phone numbers are blocked. 

The 2nd person - we did a couple of messages and I soon found he hadn't read the listing - wanted to come with 3 men - so I gently explained that the apt was probably not big enough - as there was only a queen bed and single bed.  His number didn't show up at first, but eventually did, so I could give him full details.

Today, I heard from someone else who sent a blocked number - no verification info listed - and I responded asking him for any questions.  Never heard back.

I'm very friendly in my responses - I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets this communication problem.  How do others handle it?  I can see from their profiles they're all new to airbnb.

Is there a way to get airbnb to send my number to them or theirs to me?  or do something to better facilitate communication.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

All communication should remain through the Airbnb message system.  There should be enough information in your listing to satisfy most questions potential guests will have.  The pictures should fill in the rest of the information they may need.  Airbnb blocks addresses, phone numbers, and website addresses to prevent people from going around the Airbnb system.  If you are looking to allow walk-throughs before a reservation is established, Airbnb may not be the right platform for you.

[Debi1]

Hi Paul:

Don't even try to get around the system, it is just not worth it.  Being a new host, you should instead be grateful that during this starting period you have some kind of safety within the platform.  There are scammers and lurkers on Airbnb, as well as new people just starting out who also don't know the system.

Take the approach of one learning to navigate.  Tell people that they simply cannot communicate with you outside the platform.  If they don't respond back to you, then consider that your good fortune.  Just the fact that you are getting attention soon after you listed is enough to know that you will soon be getting legitimate inquiries  and bookings.  Once the reviews start coming in, you will get more bookings.  Then, after you know the platform a little better, you can navigate around, educate the new folks just starting with Airbnb, telling them how to fill out their profiles and generally ask for the kind of information YOU want from a guest before you will allow a booking.

A word of caution.  Check verifications.  Don't accept unverified guests.  Many won't have reviews because so many people are just discovering Airbnb.  Trust your gut, and if you don't use Instant Book, be aware that government IDs are NOT required for verification of guests, and factor that in.  If you are using Instant Book, be sure to click the box requesting government ID verification.

Best of luck to you, and Happy Hosting!

[Linda108]

@Paul311  It seems that you are not educated about the Air BNB platform.  While it is sometimes difficult to navigate, there are good reasons for the various "rules".  If these rules do not fit your style of business, do not continue to host on this site.  There can be some very expensive penalties attached to mistakes.  @Debi1 and @Cynthia-and-Chris1 have given good advice.

[Annette33]

@Paul0, it will get better 🙂 consider all this a learning experience , possibly indicating what you could do better, or what you could do to prevent such scenarios from repeating themselves. a few suggestions: while your write up is clear and detailed, your pictures  are not, except for the nice outside shot of the house and the passable shot of the kitchen counters. The  others need redoing:  I would want to see pics of the bedroom, of the bathroom, all with some personal touches, not empty corners and rooms, makes me think that some of your inquiries might have misunderstood your listing as empty space, thus the requests for 4-6 weeks. You might want to limit the amount of days/time for a stay, the longer  people stay, the more potential problems will arise. also, somewhere you talk about "should see apartment before accommodating more people" : no ! - people are not supposed to see your apartment before they have booked, just like with outside phone messages you are only inviting trouble - trust Airbnb on that!  

[Amy38]

Only once have I allowed people to see the place before booking and that was for daughters booking a month for their father's post surgical recovery. Then they asked to book outside of Abnb which I refused and they booked anyway.

people who say "lets talk about longer term". usually want a discount far above what is resonable.

If you want to go a bit lower than your monthly discount, you can send them a special offer.

And nice as it is to have monthly guest, the cleaning after people have been seriosly cooking is a whole different game.